A OCG member, who hid from officers under a pile of clothes, has received a prison sentence of almost five years.

Rhys Jones, 21, appeared before Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday 17 April, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs – heroin and burglary.

He was sentenced to four years and 10 months imprisonment.

Jones was arrested following a warrant at his address where he was found in possession of heroin with a street value of more than £25,000.

He was later caught on CCTV using a stolen bank card linking him to a burglary where a car, money and bank cards had been taken in the early hours of the morning.

The car has since been recovered.

Rhys Jones, the officer in the case, said: “Jones was arrested as part of Operation Bergen, a proactive and collaborate operation set by our Serious Organised Crime (SOC) and Neighbourhood team, to tackle serious organised crime in Rhymney and the surrounding area.

“He is a significant member of a serious organised crime group and was found in possession of vast quantities of heroin.

“We know that drug supply often has links into different types of criminal behaviour and Jones went on to commit further offences – showing his complete disregard for the criminal justice system and the community that he is a part of.

“Jones was driven by greed – selling drug to make money for the OCG and line his own pockets with no consideration for the harm and distress he caused.

“The public play a vital role by providing intelligence about drug dealing in their area and we welcome any information from our communities to help us tackle illegal activity.”

A 72-YEAR-OLD Pembrokeshire man has appeared before magistrates charged with 17 sexual offences against children under the age of 14.

The Crown Prosecution alleges that between May 2004 and April 2007 Robert Hughes of The Close, Spittal, sexually assaulted three girls on eight separate occasions, by touching. At the time of the alleged offences, the girls were aged under 13.

Hughes faces nine additional charges of gross indecency against four girls under the age of 14, allegedly committed between October 1998 and October 2004.

The Crown alleges that all offences took place in Haverfordwest,

Hughes denied all 17 charges when he appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday via a video link from his home.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction in the matter. Trial proceedings against Hughes will now commence at Swansea Crown Court on May 24.

Hughes was granted conditional bail, the conditions being that he does not contact the four complainants nor the Prosecution witnesses. He must also notify the police if he changes his address and must have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

A FORMER army officer has appeared before magistrates after being caught drug-driving just one week before being granted a medical prescription for cannabis.

Shane Blofield was stopped by police soon at 9am on November 7 as he drove his white Ford transit van on the A40 through Slebech.

A roadside drugs swipe proved positive and subsequent blood tests showed he had 5.8mcg of Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The specified legal limit is 2.

This week Blofield, of Clos Pluguen, Llandovery, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving above the specified drug limit when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates.

“This is a former army officer who has served his country well and is the father to three young children,” said his counsel, Dr Bobby Shabir of the Kings Bench Chambers.

“My client has a prolapse as well as issues with his back, and as a result he requires medicinal cannabis for health reasons. A prescription for cannabis was sadly given to him a week after the incident, because at the time, he was oblivious to the fact that he could get it on prescription.”

Dr Shabbir presented the magistrates with three character references including one from his former employer and a work colleague. He informed magistrates that Blofield is currently unemployed.

After considering the mitigation, magistrates disqualified Shane Blofied from driving for 12 months. He was fined £80 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £32 surcharge.